ROKduo is a duet of two violinists: Lucjan Szaliński- Bałwas and Marcin David Król, whose
extensive repertoire contains a variety of musical compositions from different musical
genres, from classical music, through film scores, musicals and world music, to pieces
inspired by rock.The major part of ROKduo’s repertoire is comprised by pieces of Polish
composers such as Dawid Lubowicz, Henryk Wieniawski and Ewelina Nowicka. In addition,
the group performs a large number of pieces alluding to Jewish tradition.’
ROKduo find it vital to explore own, unique musical style through drawing inspiration from
music from around the world, employing non-standard playing techniques, and
improvisation. The musicians are the members of Radom Chamber Orchestra, with Lucjan
Szaliński- Bałwas being the concertmaster and Marcin David Król being the leader of the
second violins section.
ROKduo performed at i.a. the Festival of Jewish Culture in Krakow, Festival of Jewish
Culture ‘Zachor – Color and Sound’ in Bialystok, the ‘Wpółdrogi Festival’ in Kazimierz Dolny,
“Summer in Koneser” in Warsaw and in many other cities in Poland.
ROKduo also performed in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, USA and Australia.

Projects

„Jewish Impressions” is a musical excursion to the diverse, enchanting world of Jewish culture.
The programme includes traditional melodies of the Ashkenazim and the Sephardim, and the pieces of Polish composers inspired by Jewish Culture.The piece titled ‘Shalom Aleychem ’  captures the spirit of the Shabbat  prayers, whereas ‘ Adio Kerida ’ is a traditional melody reflecting the atmosphere of the Sephardic world. The musical theme from ‘Schindler’s List’ is a moving composition from a widely-acclaimed Hollywood production. Ewelina Nowicka’s ‘Jonglerous’ and “Hava Nagila Variations” present theinfluence of Jewish culture on the creative processes of Polish composers in the twenty-firstcentury. In addition, the programme couldn’t have omitted the pieces of the most notorious Polish composer and violinist of Jewish descent, Henryk Wieniawski.

“The Polish Music” is a musical project encompassing pieces of Polish composers from different historical epochs, varying in musical styles. Definitely, the largest part of the pieces were composed by the violinist, Dawid Lubowicz. His “Carpathian” contains references to the folklore of Tatra mountaineers, ‘Tango i wokaliza’ are the motifs and fragments from the musical “The Pilots”. “At the Bottom of the Casket” and “Nostalgy and Anxiety” are Lubowicz’s works, in which he shows his inspiration stemming from the folk music of various countries, employs innovative sounds, and gives performers a chance to improvise. The programme includes also the compositions of Fryderyk Chopin, Michał Kleofas Ogiński, Ewelina Nowicka and  Henryk Wieniawski.

“To the Four Sides of Europe” takes you on a musical journey through the variety of countries of the Old World. The programme consists of the pieces created by the composers of Polish, German, Austrian, Hungarian, Ukrainian and Norwegian descent. The compositions come from different historical epochs and are written in different musical styles. Lubowicz’ s “Carpathian” captures the folklore spirit of Tatra mountaineers’ “Sunfire”, created by the Austrian composer, Franz Cibulka, is a virtuosic trance piece. Andras Derecskei’s “Balkanoid” refers to the musical tradition of jazz. On the other hand, Jens Hubert’s “Rock You vs. Ballerina” and “Metamorphosis”, a composition by Aleksandr Gonobolin, are the rock pieces played in a duet. Subsequently, the programme contains ‘Passacaglia in G minor’ by the Norwegian composer, Johan Halvorsen, based on the motifs from the George Friedrich Handel’s harpsichord suite for viola and violin. 

Concerts

ROKDUO ON THE WEB